Bottle-capping head.



H. B. MARSHALL & J. SOHLAGEL.

BOTTLE GAPPING HEAD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 5, 1908.

I 964,926, Patented July 19,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. E. MARSHALL & J. SOHLAGEL.

BOTTLE CAPPING'HEAD.

APPLICATION FILED DEC,5,1908.

Patented July 19, 1910.

2 SHBETSSHEET 2.

12a wenars.

Wz'neaseS:

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERBERT E. MARSHALL AND JACOB SCI-ILAGEL, on NEW YORK, N. it, ASSIGNORS T HENRY w. AYLWARD, or

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

BoTrLE-oArrme HEAI SHALIi and Jason SCIILA'GEL, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, city of'New Yorlr, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a certain iew and useful Improvement in Bottleapping Heads, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings, forming part thereof.

Our invention relates to bottle capping machines, and particularly to machines. for applying caps having a depending flange, by pressing or clenching the flange in under the neck of the bottle.

It is well known in this art to apply the caps by rapidly spinning rollers, but several difficulties have been encountered with this method, especially in using automatic feeders for the caps and charging apparatus for the bottles, in connection with, the machine, since the feeder for the caps and the charging tubes interfere with the spinning opera tion. Furthermore it.- has proven extrem 1y difficult to apply sullicien't pressure to the spinning rollers to secure a sufiiciently strong seal.

One object of our invention is to obviate these di'l'liculties by eliminating the necessity for spinning and thereby the interfer ence of the feeding and charging mechanism with the capping mechanism, and by exerting the full force of the pressure directly on the flange. i

Another object is to provide novel means for compensating for variajtion in width of the beads of the bottle netksj Stillanother object is to provide engaging means for the capping jdevices to insure accuratemnd efiicient' ei'igagement with the ca during the capping operation and an efiiict-ive forcing of the material of the cap against the bottle neck and under the shoulder thereof. V

Other objects and advantages of our in- .vcntion will appear from the following clescription. Broadly, our invention comprises a plurality of cap -setting= plungers or punches arranged so that they are adapted to be forced in simultaneously about the flange of the cap and to pinch it under the bea .of the bottle neck and thus seal the cap on t e bottle.

We shall now describe our invention with 'sp'fings 9, which reference to the accompanying drawings and shall thereafter point out our invention in claims.

Figure 1 is a plan view of our bottle capping head. Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the same on the line ag-a; of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale with portions broken away,-showing the parts in operative'position. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the bottom plate, the toggle links and the cap-setting plungers.

In the embodiment of our invention shown in the drawings, we employ four arcuate cap-setting plungers each a quarter circle and arranged'to slide together ina horizontal plane to form a complete circle. To reciprocate these plungers, we employ toggle joints with links2 and 3, the former pinned to the cap-setting plungers l and the latter pinned to a bottom plate l so as tobear a ainst flanges 5 provided for this purpose. The bottom plate 4 is secured to a casting 6 and is spaced therefrom 1 the thickness of the plungers 1, so that the adjacent walls serve as guides for the plungers. -The casting 6 has four vertical bores thorethrough for the reception of toggleoperating :spindles 7 the toggle hints by the links 8. At the terminatlon, f these holes the bottom of the casting Sis provided with recesses as shown to allow movement of the toggle joints. The "spindles 7 are surrounded by helical against pins 10 ex'tendin through the spindles and hear at their lower ends against the shoulders 1-1 at the bottom of the bores ofthe casting 6, and tend to hold the spindles and toggles in raised position and consequently to hold the plungers 1 in retracted osition. The casting (5 is also provided with a central vertical bore in which is rigidly secured, as by a pin-13, a sleeve12 in which slides the stem 14 of the plunger head 1 The stem 14 is provided'with a longitudinal slotas shown, through which ties-pin 13 extends and which therefore permits the stem 1 1 to slide the length of the slot in. the sleeve 12: At the lower end of a the sleeve 12, the central bore of the casting 6 is enlarged to form an annular shoulder 16 against which thehead 15 is adapted to engage as thestem' 14: slides upward in the sleeve 12.

bear at their upper ends Specification of Letters Patent. faten'ted July 19- 1910, 1 Application filed December 5, 1908. Serial m5. 466,060.

or punches 1,

which are linked to A helical spring 17 in the sleeve 12'bears on the top of the stem 14 and tends setting plungers 1, it is evident that ressure must be exerted on the tops 0 the spindles 7. to force them down, and for this purpose a casting 18 is attached to the reciprocating plunger 19 of the bottle-capping machine, as shown, and is provided witha central bore which serves as a guide for thesleeve '12.. The upper portion of this bore is enlarged and serves as a spring'bo'x for the helical spring 20,,which bears on the top of the sleeve. 12 and tends to hold it down and, consequently, to carry the sleeve 12 and the parts carried by it down with the plunger 19. The spanner nut 22 in the top of the spring box, which serves as the top bearing for the spring 20, is screwthreaded as shown and, cotiperatin with corresponding threads in the spring box, 15

adjustable to adjust the tension of the spring 20. The sleeve 12 has an enlarged head 21, which is limited in its downward movement by the shoulder'.provided by the spring" box and prevents the parts from separating. .The spring box has a removable ca '22-, thus providing means for dis assemb ng'the parts. The'casting 18 has four vertical bores corresponding to thoseof the casting 6 and arranged so that they are in alinement therewith, and the castings are so spaced apart that in their extreme position the spindles 7 project slightly into the bores of the upper castings and act to keep the correspondingbores inline.

It is evident that, as the upper casting 1 8 I 'is brought down with the'plunger19, f

the lower casing is held stationary, as by a bottle, the spindles 7 will enter the bores of the casting 18; and to exert the necessary pressure on the spindles to actuate the capsetting plungers 1, bufle'r disks-23 are held against a shoulder 24 by helical springs 25. Setscreivs 26 are provided to adjust the tension of the springs 25. i To facilitate the making of,the bores and-shoulders 241 in the casting 18, the casting-may be made in two parts, as shown, andfthe parts then joined together. q

It will appear from the foregoing that when a bottle is set in place with its cap' against the head 15, and the plunger 19 and the parts carried by it are brought down, at the beginning of the movement all of the parts of the cappin head move down relative' to the head 15 or a short distance until the head 15 engages the shoulder 16. Thereafter the casting 6 and the parts carried b it are held stationary, and the spindles are engaged by the disks.23, and the yielding pressures of the springs 25 begin to close in the plungers 1 about the flange of the cap,

as shown in Fig. 3. The engaging edges of the plungers lare provided with V-shap'ed grooves to insure a firm grip, on the flange of the cap, and the flange of the cap has an outstanding edge which enters'the grooves in the plungers as the plungers move inward.

It has been found that the function of these grooves is of extreme importance in the succ'essful operation of my bottle-capping head, and that they-aid. materiall in making an effective seal, since, by firm y gripping the outst'andi'n edge of the flange of the cap, they enab e the plungers, in addition to pressing the flange in under the shoulder on the neck of the bottle, to also hold securely to the flange and draw the metal under the-shoulder of the bottle and thus add to-the effectiveness of the seal. The further. downward movement of the plunger 19 is wholly utilized in direct pressure radially inward against the flange of the cap and a very effective seal ismade. The pressure exerted is nevertheless that of springs and assures-both'that the cap flanges shall be forced fully inward and that the bottle shall not be injured. The pressure on the-top of the cap is provided by the spring 20 so as to compress the cork to' form a perfect seat.

To compensate for variation in width of the beads of the bottle-necks, we employ a flat spring 27 under each of the plungers 1. Thesepermitthe I engaging edges of the plungers to be carried down by the contour of the bead if the neck is thick and at the same time hold the plungers ,up to engaging )osition for heads not so wide. They also impart a yielding movement longitudinally of the bottleneck and in cooperation w the grooves in the plungers, enable the plungers to retain their grip and continue their pressure on the outstanding edge of the'cap flange as the plungers force the flange in, and permit the metal of the flange to draw downward against the bottle neck and inward under the shoulder of the bottle neck; As soon as the plunger is reciprocated and the head carried up again, the parts are returned to their original position ready for the next operation.

It is obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction shown and above particularly described within the principle and scope of our invention.

\Ve; claim;

1. In a bottle-capping machine, capping a -2. Inab'ottle-capping machine, a'capping headfcomprising plurality of normally retracted a rcuate can-setting plungers ad apted to close about the flange of. the cap, and toggle joints adapted to press the plungers to operative position.

3.- In abottle-capping machine, a capping edge of the flange of the ca and resilient/45 head com rising a plurality of arcuate ca-pmeans coact-ing with the pFunger to comsetting p ungers a apted to closeradially pensate for variation'in width of the beads inward about the flange of the.cap, means {of the bottle necks. .1

cooperating with the plungers to compensate 9. In a bottle-capping machine head for for 'variation in width 0 the beads of the g applying caps having a flange with an outtit;

bottle necks, and means for actuating the standing edge, cap-setting means for engaghead comprising a plurality of normally;

plungers. mg the outstanding edge of the -cap and 4. In abottle-cappingmachine, a capping forcing the flange to grip againstthe.

' bottle neck, and resilientmeans cooperating";

retracted arcuate cap-setting plungers adaptwith the cap-setting means to permit such 55 4 ed to close ahouttheflange of the cap, re-

means to yield longitudinally of the bottle 'silient means coacting with the plungers to neek. V t compensate for Xariation in width of the 10. Inabott-le-cappmg machine head for heads of the bottle neck, and toggle joints 5 applying caps having. flange with an outadapted to press the plunge-1's. to operative standing edge, arenate cap-setting plungers so position. for engaging the outstanding ge of the 5.111 a bottle-capping machine, a capping i n and ing the fl g 3a to g n head comprising a plurality of areuate m 4 against the bottle neck, and resilient meanssetting plungers adapted to close about the P fl g i the plungers t0 pflnilt flange ofthe cap the l e s h i them to yield longitudinally of the bottle 55 gaging grooves on their operating edges, i'ellecksilient means coacting with the plungers to j -CfHWmg mach ne e d for compensate for variation in width of the applying caps having a flange with an out p heads of the bottle neck, and means for act d ng edge, cap-setting plungers adapted adapted to close about the flange of the cap,

tuating the plungers. to engage the outstanding edge of the cap 0 6. In a bottle-capping machine, a capping} 811d f r e fir g?- I1 0 g lp flgf mst'the. head comprising a plurality of nonnally- 5 boflle Deck, and resilient ?=m Cooperating retracted arcuate cap -sctting plungers P g to P6 W longitudinally of the-bottle neck. I

the .plungeis having engaging grooves (in In app g machine a l" I5 their operating edges, resilient means col e Cap-Setting plungets ada ted acting with.the'plungers to compensate for uf mwald P m v f -%I!P variation in width of the heads, of the bottle 3 9P means n g plu g necks, toggle j ints d t d t press th 1 inward, and resilient means cooperatin plungers to operative sition and yielding :f with the plungers to permit them to yiel means for actuating t e toggle joints. i

, longitudinally of the bottle n'eck.

7 I -b tfl m Pi machme h d a In testimony whereof we have afiixed uni-l" .cap setting Plunger ovable radially ini signatures in presence of tWO JACOB SCHLAGEL.

toward andfnesilienbmeans coact-ing therel HERBERT E. MABSHAIL;

n ith to permit the plunger to yield longitudinally of the bottle neck. Witnesses: I

8. In a bottle-capping machine head, a Bnnxano Com; r cap-setting plunger adapted to engage the Vwron D. Bons'r. 

